§ Mr. Boydenasked the Minister of Education what was the average cost per acre of school sites purchased by the local education authorities of Durham, Kent, Surrey, and Essex, respectively, in 1951, 1954 and 1959, respectively.
§ Sir D. EcclesNo information is available for 1959 because during that year my Department ceased to approve site purchases. Figures for 1951 and 1954 are as follows:
Average cost* per acre of land purchased L.E.A. of Administrative County 1951 1954 £ £ Durham … … 154 534 Kent … … 618 647 Surrey … … 797 286 Essex … … 281 711 * It will be appreciated that the nature of the sites differs so widely that figures of average cost cannot usefully be compared.